1. Field of The Invention
The present invention relates generally to the field of surgical suction and irrigation apparatus, and more particularly but not by way of limitation, to such an apparatus adapted for use in endoscopic surgery.
2. Description of the Prior Art
The use of suction and irrigation devices and many improvements thereof for both open and laproscopic surgery are well known in the art. U.S. Pat. No. 5,484,402 describes such an improved device whereby irrigation fluid is pumped from a source such as a saline bag through a cannula housed in a hand-held probe which is inserted through a trocar for supplying irrigation during laproscopic surgery. The liquid flow is controlled by a valve in the handpiece which also contains electrical contacts that starts the pump simultaneous with the valve opening by completing a circuit connecting a battery pack to the pump motor. Thus, pressurized irrigant is delivered to the surgical field. The switch associated with the irrigation valve is connected by a two conductor electrical cable to the pumping system which contains the battery, motor, and pump housing. Removal of the irrigant, blood, and other such matter is accomplished by opening a second valve in the handpiece thereby connecting a second cannula in the probe to a vacuum source such as a standard hospital vacuum outlet.
The irrigant and all the elements of the system that comes into contact with the surgical field must be sterile. The system described in U.S. Pat No. 5,484,402 is a single use device, all components of which are disposed of after each procedure. This is usually necessary for such devices because of the cost and difficulty encountered in decontamination and re-sterilization. Hoses and cannula offer particular difficulty in that regard. While the above-described prior art is very useful, it suffers from the fact that it is too expensive owing to the design details and the disposability issue.
What is needed then is an irrigation/suction system that is inexpensive to manufacture and one that reuses as many of the parts as is practical, combining single use inexpensive parts with multi-use parts that, preferably, do not require decontamination or sterilization prior to the next procedure.